1,400 foreign criminals freed early

Nearly 1,400 foreign criminals have been freed from jail early despite Government promises to crack down on overseas offenders.

Figures obtained by the Conservatives showed that in the past year 767 European Union citizens and 617 non-EU nationals have benefited from a scheme which allows them to be freed 18 days early.

Although the offenders involved were not liable for deportation, the Tories claimed it undermined pledges by Prime Minister Gordon Brown to get tough on foreign criminals.

Shadow justice secretary Nick Herbert said: "Far from removing foreign national prisoners from the country as Gordon Brown pledged, the Government has actually released nearly 1,400 of them early on to our streets in less than a year.

"For every two prisoners which ministers claim to have removed, another one has been released early. Gordon Brown said the message to foreign criminals was that 'you play by the rules or you face the consequences'.

"The message he has actually sent is that if you break the law you have a good chance of being released from prison before serving even half of your sentence and you'll then be free to remain in the UK."

Last year Mr Brown told foreign lawbreakers in a newspaper article: "If you commit a crime you will be deported from our country. You play by the rules or you face the consequences. I am not prepared to tolerate a situation where we have people breaking the rules in our country when we cannot act. That will be toughened up."

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "Foreign national prisoners who are eligible for deportation are deported and are therefore not eligible for release under the End of Custody Licence scheme (ECL).

"Last year 4,200 people were deported for breaking the law and we have pledged to remove more foreign national prisoners this year than ever before.

"Foreign national prisoners are now routinely considered for deportation and those who are eligible will be removed. Those foreign national prisoners not eligible for deportation who have been released under ECL make up just 6% of all releases, up to 18 days early, under the scheme."